I've actually gotten mail regarding an offhand comment I made about Kovalev's colored past in a previous article. Comments vary from unprintable to inquisitive, but it's readily apparent most people don't know what I'm referring to.
So gather around, kids, and let me tell you a story.
The scene is the 1995 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Quebec Nordiques are trailing the New York Rangers in the series, two games to one, but they're off to an early lead in game four. The game is in Madison Square Garden, where an unhappy crowd has watched the Nordiques go ahead 2-0 in the first period.
The Rangers make a pass into the Quebec zone that is picked off by Nordiques captain Joe Sakic. As he streaks up the ice, Nordiques defenseman Craig Wolanin takes a one-handed slash at Alexei Kovalev's back behind the play. Kovalev flies off his skates like he's been shot in the back, landing face-first on the ice. Referee Andy van Hellemond has his back to the incident and begins hearing the New York crowd take offense, then looks over and sees Kovalev lying motionless.
At this point, van Hellemond doesn't know what has happened, and he has a choice to make. According to the rules, the referee is not supposed to stop play for an injured player while the opposing team has the puck - unless it is obvious the player has sustained a serious injury requiring immediate attention. Van Hellemond skates toward Kovalev while keeping an eye on the play and tells Kovalev to get up, but Alexei remains prone and unmoving. Meanwhile, Sakic nears the Rangers goal and fans on a shot. Van Hellemond makes one more quick plea for Kovalev to get up and gets no response. He blows the whistle, only to look up and see that Sakic has scored. Unable to go to the booth for replay and find out if the goal or the whistle came first, he asks for help from his linesmen. Neither heard the whistle.
During this discussion with his linesmen, the Rangers begin complaining that Wolanin should be given a major for slashing. It's at this point that van Hellemond finds out from one of the linesmen that it was a one-handed slash that put Kovalev down - the linesman offers his opinion that it would be a two-minute infraction at most. Van Hellemond is a bit incredulous, as Kovalev is still lying facedown on the ice and not moving, but takes his word for it. Eventually he makes the call; he has to assume that he blew the whistle before the goal was scored, since he had only looked away for a second or two before stopping the play.
Unfortunately for Andy, he was wrong; the whistle actually sounded two seconds after the goal crossed the line. To make matters worse, the Nordiques let their 2-0 lead evaporate and wound up losing the game in overtime, falling behind 3-1 in the series.
Andy van Hellemond was blasted for his supposed mishandling of the call, and was not allowed to referee in the Finals that year - the only playoffs in a twenty-year span in which he didn't make a Finals appearance. The league completely mishandled the situation and made it sound as if the miscall were an egregious error on van Hellemond's part that couldn't be tolerated.
The truth is that while Andy van Hellemond did miss the call, it was understandable. The truth is that the only person who made an incomprehenisble error on that play was Alexei Kovalev, and he got away with it. He was unhurt and laid there faking a serious injury for minutes. It's reprehensible. Even though it helped his team in the short term, it hurt all players in the future. What referee would stop a play for an injured player now, knowing that it could cost him a Finals appearance and put a black mark on his record? Van Hellemond was the most respected referee in the game. If he gets hung out to dry by the league office for it, who wouldn't be?
And the worst part is that Kovalev was rewarded for it. It saved a goal against his team when it shouldn't have - and he could have made the difference in the play if he'd actually attempted to play. Sakic's fan on the initial shot might have given him the time he needed to catch up, and he might have prevented the goal. Instead, he chose to lay on the ice and play dead. It should have cost the Rangers the game, but it saved it for them instead.
That's the same Alexei Kovalev that pulled the same stunt in game four against Boston this year. This time, the referee didn't bite, and it did cost his team the game. In spectacular fashion, I might add, as he coughed up the puck in overtime to the Bruins and managed to pick his own defenseman out of the play in the process.
Justice may have been a long time coming, and it's too late for the Nordiques - now the Avalanche, who moved in the offseason following the loss to the Rangers. But it's satisfying, all the same.